Determination of left ventricular mass with electron beam computed tomography in deformed, hypertrophic human hearts

This study firstly determined the accuracy of left ventricular mass (LVM) determination by electron beam CT in normal and distorted human cadaver hearts, and secondly the in vivo reproducibility of these measurements, in normal subjects and patients with various cardiac diseases, over a wide range of LVM (104-631 g). In cadaver hearts, there was a close correlation between electron beam CT and autopsy LVM values: r = 0.97, SEE = 16 g. Intra-observer variability: results of LVM measurements obtained in cadaver hearts by observer 1 and in in vivo studies by observer 2 were y = 1.001 x -1.34, r = 0.99, SEB = 6 g and y = 0.99 x +3.78, r = 0.99, SEE = 19 g, respectively. Inter-observer variability: results in cadaver and in vivo studies were y = 1.05 x -5.94, r = 0.98, SEE = 14 g and y = 1.13 x -23, r = 0.99, SEE = 28 g, respectively. Thus, these results over a wide LVM range provide extensive validation of electron beam CT measurements in hearts with marked left ventricular distortion. This method should play a valuable role, within the scope of clinical research, in assessing left ventricular remodelling in various conditions in which echocardiographic data are inaccurate.